>> A production of the South Carolina Educational Television Network.

♪ [piano music] ♪ ♪ Michael Tecklenburg> I'm not sure what kind of lawyer I want to be, but... I mean, the legal field is very diverse, and, and... a law degree can lead to many opportunities.

Carol Speer> When Michael says that he wants to be involved in politics or he wants to help people, he wants to be an attorney.

He wants to be in front of people.

You would think no one will put up with that.

No one will take the time.

And yet they have.

Sen.

Ernest Hollings> In contrast, if I was going to choose for a large law firm, someone who could prepare my briefs and do the research and guide my thinking, I'd rather have Michael Tecklenburg than any person I know.

He's got that kind of sensitivity and feel and logic.

He's had to develop it.

Narrator> Michael Tecklenburg is mainstreamed.

He is deaf, yet fully part of the hearing world.

He is the only deaf student at Columbia University Law School, the first, in fact, ever.

♪ ♪ Michael> I would say that... my biggest problem is when I'm not always able to understand the other person, not able to lip-read the other person.

For example, sometimes somebody will only pick up 75% of what another person is stating through lip-reading, so I have to construe the other 25%.

Narrator> Carol Speer is a former teacher of the deaf.

Carol> I don't know if a hearing person could ever comprehend the process it takes to have a simple conversation.

It is so automatic in a hearing person.

That auditory stimuli that goes in, you don't have to think about it.

You never had to think about it when your mother was saying sweet things to you when you were a baby.

You never had to think about your brother saying things to you about, let's go out and play.

It went in and it wasn't even it was automatically processed for you.

Every auditory stimuli that goes into a hearing person has to be done with two senses with the deaf.

It has to go in auditorily, but it's not complete.

It has to go in visually.

Narrator> Joseph Cardinal Bernardin is archbishop of the Chicago diocese.

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin> The Tecklenburg family lived across the street from the cathedral, Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, where I was stationed.

And so I got to know them and their children very, very well.

When Michael came along, they, they did not know at first that he had a hearing difficulty.

They began to notice after a while, if I remember correctly, that he couldn't speak like the rest of the children, and they wondered what the cause was.

Narrator> Henry Tecklenburg is Michael's father.

Henry Tecklenburg> It was strange, but I never felt that he was retarded.

But I didn't know.

I mean, I didn't know, personally what it was, or how it was.

Narrator> Esther Tecklenburg is Michael's mother.

Esther Tecklenburg> We took Michael to, a series of doctors without good results.

♪ The arrangements for the testings were not good.

And it was not until he was taken to a hearing and speech center that we found out Michael had an 80 decibel loss, which was almost at speech level.

There was no program for handicapped.

And we hired a tutor that taught him 1 to 1 arithmetic and reading for the first hour of every day.

He then went to the classroom for the remainder of the school day, and in the afternoon we took him to the hearing and speech clinic that State College had on campus in Orangeburg.

A very gifted audiologist taught him lip reading and speech, during this period, when he was possibly six and seven, ♪ We had explored every resource in South Carolina at this time.

We decided to take him to Saint Louis, to an excellent testing center at Central Institute for the deaf, and too, at this time, Michael had, had a further hearing loss, and when he was tested, he was considered profoundly deaf.

The testing center recommended that Michael have a period of 4 or 5 years of special education in a school, preferably an oral school, for the deaf.

And they felt after this period he would be able to mainstream into a regular hearing classroom.

(mimicking barking sounds) Narrator> It was nearly a year from his testing until Michael was accepted at Saint Joseph Institute for the Deaf in Saint Louis.

A school founded in 1837, it is one of three private schools in the nation that provided residential programs using only the auditory oral method.

The oral method teaches students to read lips and to speak.

While many schools teach what is called total communication, a combination of oral education and signing.

Saint Joseph does not teach signing.

St.

Joseph maintains it is important to mainstream the deaf, that signing confines the deaf to a separate world.

In fact, Michael never learned to sign.

Teacher> A balloon.

Narrator> In South Carolina.

Michael was frustrated in the public schools, never fully understanding.

At St.

Joseph, He was among other deaf students with teachers who knew the problems and the solutions, but it was not easy.

He was a young boy of eight, separated from his family for the first time in his life, and the work was very hard.

Student> Scaw... Teacher> (hissing) Sssssaw.

Student> Scaw... Teacher> Ssssaw... Student> Sssaw... Teacher> Much better.

That's very good.

Okay.

Narrator> At first, Michael worked hours each day in one on one drill with a teacher.

Narrator> The repetition and correction shapes a memory in the child.

It becomes mechanical.

It is a memory based on the shape of the mouth and the position of the tongue, the feeling of airflow, and a knowledge that the teacher smiled when the sound was right.

Teacher> That was pretty.

Teacher> Look, they picked a pail full of blueberries.

Then what happened?

Student> "With his feet dripping with cherry juice, Elmer spelled out, 'Blueberry pie, please!'"

Teacher> Who knows which one's first?

Student> ...the blueberries are ripe... Narrator> High expectations were set far different than when the school first began over 150 years ago.

Carol> The expectations were very limited.

Their deafness hasn't changed.

We still have the deaf, but our expectations are so different from them.

We expect them now to learn to speak.

We expect them now to mainstream.

We expect them now to be parts of the community, to marry, have children, have responsible jobs, participate in the community, and they're doing it.

Our expectations have changed and so have theirs.

Narrator> In science or math, the real lesson was oral communication.

The process of reading lips and speaking went on every day in each grade for Michael.

All his waking hours were variations on that speech drill, reinforced by teachers, counselors, and classmates.

Only this creates a memory of speech when you have never heard it Teacher>... or what?

Student> Teacher> Okay.

Okay.

My question was, why do you think the claws or pincers are used for?

Michael> Although I realize that the oral-auditory option cannot be available to everyone, you need appropriate support.

You need a parent.

A person needs to have a good temperament, a tremendous amount of patience to learn how to lip-read and to speak.

Peter Greenough> It does take a great deal of patience.

(narrator) Peter Greenough is an author who supports oral education.

He is married to Beverly Sills.

Their daughter is deaf.

Peter> They throw their hearing aids down the toilet when they first wear them.

They can do an awful lot of things in the way of rebellion.

Sooner or later, they get to appreciate it.

We happen to have two children that have problems.

We have this daughter who is deaf, but otherwise, we don't consider her handicapped.

She really isn't.

She's a very good-looking girl.

She's done everything as a kid.

She's graduated from school.

She graduated from college.

She's working for a very good job in New York as a mechanical artist.

She likes it, and she's well-paid.

She had to set up, as Michael is finding, the support services.

Michael> Some of us have been educated in special schools like St.

Joseph, while others have been tutored at home.

Others may have gone to special clinics.

I think we have all shared something in common in the sense that most of us have had parental involvement in our education.

Esther> I...will never be sorry that we made the decision to place Michael in the Saint Louis area.

He could not be the same person that he is now if we'd kept him at home.

I know that I would have sheltered him.

Narrator> Michael stayed four years at St.

Joseph.

He visited his mother and father and brothers during the summer and on holidays.

In sixth grade, Michael took another step towards the hearing world.

Instead of returning to South Carolina, he stayed in Saint Louis with Carol and Jim Speer while he attended Chaminade, a regular college preparatory high school.

He was the only deaf student in his class.

Michael became part of two families and two cities.

At Chaminade, Michael functioned in the hearing world.

Here, too, expectations were high, and Michael had to perform.

Teachers and students were unfamiliar with the routines of oral education.

Living with the Speers helped Michael work on his speech.

Carol was equipped to help, because she had taught at St.

Joseph.

They had expectations too.

Michael participated in the Speers' life in St.

Louis with their families and neighbors.

Michael's waking hours now worked on a different drill, that of mainstreaming.

Jim> We met Michael in 1974 when we were asked whether or not we would consider taking Michael into a family environment, because the school was considering mainstreaming him.

If he is going to successfully integrate into-- in the case of hearing-impaired children, into a hearing world, then he has a lot of subtleties to pick up.

being associated and integrated into that hearing environment, he will begin to pick up not only academic skills, but also some of the skills of day-to-day life that he may not pick up being exposed entirely to one group of individuals, that being hearing-impaired, possibly.

Narrator> At Chaminade, Michael applied to three universities and was accepted by all.

He chose the University of South Carolina's Honors College, where he became its first deaf student.

Classes were small, and professors worked closely with honors students.

This was ideal for Michael, since small classes meant reduced distance to read lips.

When needed, the university provided a note-taker for Michael.

Michael majored in history.

After his junior year, he went to China on a six-week exchange.

Michael traveled with an interpreter.

♪ ♪ Michael> I think they were surprised to see a deaf American in China.

It was sometimes difficult to lip-read the Chinese person they used, but nevertheless, my guides and I were able to understand each other pretty well, and I asked a lot of questions about their history, their culture, their mannerisms, and...it was fascinating to see a developing nation.

Carol> Whoever thought, when Michael started flying at four, that when he was a grown-up, he would be flying off to China on his own?

In his home environment, he's been exposed to all kinds of people.

And Michael doesn't shrink from the opportunity.

If there is an opportunity to meet a senator, he goes and gets the support from his family, to go try that and he takes the opportunity.

But they're there.

The opportunities are there for Michael.

That, I think is more unique for Michael than other students.

Narrator>Senator Ernest Hollings knew Michael from childhood.

Hollings and the Tecklenburgs are friends from Charleston.

Sen.

Ernest Hollings> I always knew Michael had a good sense of humor.

So, it was nice to be around him.

It wasn't that I had to sort of be polite and talk to this best friend's son.

To be polite is a good thing, on the contrary, if you got near him and talked and turned your head, he had a tremendous sense of humor.

When I brought him in as an intern, I learned for the first time that now right here in this room or wherever you're viewing or seeing this particular program, you put Michael in that room, and you'd have to rate him the smartest.

He's brilliant!

I guess it comes through a sensitivity and a devouring kind of reading ability, and he and research!

Started at the particular time I was on the presidential race, researching all these particular points so I would be authoritative on what I was saying.

He was getting things the Library of Congress couldn't find out about.

Peatsy Hollings> He asked lots of questions.

He literally is a talking machine, himself.

He may not be able to hear, very well but he talks very well!

(narrator) Peatsy Hollings.

Michael> Well, I guess it's kind of ironic when you think about it.

I will be entering what is a very oral profession.

(Frank Sinatra) ♪ This...is... ♪ ♪ my kind of town.

♪ ♪ Chicago is, my ♪ kind of town... ♪ (narrator) Michael is active in a national group supporting oral education, the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.

Michael> I think one of the reasons I'm so involved with A.G.

Bell is that I think it's important to get the message out that deaf people can talk, that deaf people can perform in the mainstream.

I've seen a lot of people make a difference in my life, so I think I can help make a difference too.

When I went to the university, I was undeclared for two years, and after two years, my advisor told me I had to pick a major.

I told him I was majoring in undeclaring.

And I ended up majoring in history, and I picked that major probably because I like history, and probably because I had some advanced placement credit from high school that took care of almost a semester of history requirements, so I went ahead and became a history major.

And, finally, I also wanted to go to law school, and-- Oh--I also wanted to go to law school, and almost any major, it's doable for law school.

Speaker> Can the court give you B?

Can the court give you contract?

What are the terms of this contract?

Narrator> While a hearing person can take notes and not look at a professor, Michael must watch every movement of a speaking mouth to know what word is said.

Even then, the process is not 100%.

Sometimes, Michael follows only 25% of what is spoken, filling in the gaps as a hearing person does on a bad telephone connection.

Carol> It is difficult to follow a conversation that moves from one, two, three, or four people.

So for Michael to go from the teacher to another person, he has to use his lip-reading skills and his auditory skills and again, all the skills you and I need for comprehension, for thought processes.

James Milligan> I look to see what's been done already.

Narrator> James Milligan is admissions director for Columbia University Law School.

James Milligan> ...which is not to say that people don't mature and grow and develop as they get older.

But I look for not just claims, but evidence that, um... that this person can accomplish what they set out to do.

In Michael's case, there was abundant evidence that the self-discipline, really, the extraordinary amount of self-discipline and, as I said before, deep commitment to accomplishing his objectives was there, and it wasn't something he was just claiming, professing on a law school application essay, but from a very early age, all the way through grammar school, high school, and now through college, that pulled him through.

Not only pulled him through in the sense of getting by, but performing at really outstanding levels.

Michael> I'm glad that the first year is over with.

They say that the first year is the hardest, so I hope it becomes easier now.

I pretty much...I think I pretty much got a sense of how to analyze legal issues.

James> And so we had some concerns, but few doubts.

And of course, the experience is just now beginning, and so we don't have any hard answers yet.

But the early indicators are those qualities and skills, intellectually and personally, which have served him well, continue to serve him well here.

Michael> I guess being the first deaf student at Columbia... I mean, Columbia Law School has to figure out what to do with me since it never had a deaf person before.

But anyway, I think I have allayed their fears, their concerns that they may have had about having me there.

And hopefully we'll be able to have more deaf lawyers in this country.

There are only about 20 deaf lawyers in this country.

Carol> Each step has to acknowledge his deafness, then gather the skills that will make it possible, and then go on.

Michael> I have to make an effort to pronounce clearly, because communication is very much a two-way street.

Just as much, the other person communicating with me has to make an effort.

Carol> And the final challenge, going to a law school.

First of all, who'd want a deaf lawyer?

Who'd want to be a deaf lawyer?

It's impossible!

You can't do it!

Michael turns around and said, "I've seen it; I can do it," and he does it!

Michael> I've seen a lot of people make a difference in my life, and I think I can help make a difference too.

And I think that's where I am.

I might really grow cynical, and I suspect a lot of lawyers end up growing cynical at some point, but I haven't got into that.

But I don't know.

Speer> I know you can have failure.

Michael attacks these doors as just what they are to him, adventures.

Can I gather all these skills together to grab that handle and pull that door open?

He doesn't peek in.

He opens the door full and walks in.

Michael> Putting it mildly, there are a lot of problems in this world.

And perhaps, most importantly, I think one person can make a difference.

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin> And I think that the message is a very clear one.

That is, no matter what our difficulties are, no matter what obstacles we face in life, if we're really determined to overcome those obstacles, if we really try, and we have the help and the love of those around us, then we can do it.

We can overcome whatever it is that is an obstacle.

James Milligan> I think it would be a mistake for one to understand Michael Tecklenburg only in terms of his overcoming obstacles to reach high levels of academic and professional success because beyond the courage and the perseverance and stamina and faith, as I say, that are manifest, he also has, I think, exceptional leadership skills and a sense of service to other people and to other organizations that characterize many of our applicants.

But I think so often, when you are looking at people, whether they're applicants to law school or not, one always thinks in terms of their handicap or obstacles overcome.

Certainly that is a piece of the application puzzle because it's a piece of their life.

Michael> To be realistic, there are frustrations in being deaf, and we pretty much try to-- or I pretty much try to take a stolid view of life and do the best I can... and go on.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (music fades)